


Five and a Half

by bansheee



Series: And a Half [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Community: HPFT, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Pining, Quidditch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 11:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6656428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bansheee/pseuds/bansheee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which James Potter is an instigator, and Teddy Lupin doesn’t stand a chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five and a Half

“I don’t know how it happened, Harry.”  
  
Harry Potter was never intimidating to Teddy Lupin. While he grew up with the Auror/war hero as a godfather, he had never made him feel like anything less than equal, more of a friend than a person of authority. Even back at Hogwarts, his grandmother was the one that disciplined him when he got caught sneaking around the castle, or when he got detention. Harry just talked to Teddy about what happened, gave him advice, and laughed it off saying he did the same thing when he was in Hogwarts, except he fought a troll, too.  
  
But at the moment, Harry Potter was a scary man.  
  
“Teddy, what do you mean, ‘you don’t know how it happened’?” Harry asked, peering over the top of his glasses and looking across the kitchen table at him. An old habit, Teddy watched as he ran his fingers through his grey-speckled hair.  
  
Teddy cringed at the way his own words repeated to him back sounded.  
  
“He just… I don’t know, Harry! One minute we were practicing in the field, and everything was fine, and the next we were—” Teddy trailed off his sentence with another wince. He could feel his hair changing colors at its own will.  
  
“Snogging in the shed and leaving Albus alone?” Harry’s voice had never sounded so disappointed. Teddy felt terrible. He avoided looking at any of the Potters sitting around the table, choosing instead to stare at the patterns in the woodwork.  
  
The room sat in a taught silence, the only thing interrupting it was small sniffles coming from the youngest Potter boy. Even though his arm had been mended, Albus hadn’t been able to control his soppy tears. Teddy had apologized countless times, but he still felt like an arse, and like it’d never be enough.  
  
“James is sixteen,” Harry (uselessly) pointed out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw James uncross his arms to protest, but Harry held up a finger to keep him quiet.  
  
Teddy knew. Merlin’s beard did Teddy know that James was sixteen.  
  
“I know,” he said in a very small voice. “He was just… convincing.”  
  
Harry stared at him for a few seconds, processing, before he rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses.  
  
When his godfather said nothing, Teddy got flustered and tried to explain some more. “He just… we were practicing, and it was hot out, and—”  
  
Okay, stop!” Harry interrupted, bringing his hands around Albus’ ears. Teddy was glad for the interruption as he probably would have said something he regretted.  
  
This seemed to snap Albus out of his upset trance as he shrugged his father off. Teddy watched as Harry let out a sad huff that his youngest son was too old to be protected. “Albus is only twelve, you can’t leave him alone.”  
  
“Da-ad!” Albus whined, “Don’t say it like that! That makes me sound like a baby!”  
  
James opened his mouth for the first time. “You are a baby! If you wouldn’t have fallen off your broom and broken your arm—”  
  
“James!” Harry did yell this time, though it was still level headed enough that Teddy was impressed he was holding it together so well, considering. “I don’t think you’re in any place to be lecturing your brother about maturity.”  
  
James went back to crossing his arms and being quiet, giving a small glance and a smile to Teddy before looking back to the table. Teddy could feel his hair and face glow as he tried not to smile back, giving his feelings away anyway. Thankfully, in avoidance of any further disappoint to Harry, the man was too busy dismissing Albus from the table to notice.  
  
Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes again. “Okay. Without any ‘lack of clothing details on my still underage son,’” Harry gave James a look at the scoff that escaped, “tell me what happened.”  
  
*  
  
Teddy looked to the ground. Teddy stared at the ground because he was not looking at James Potter. He studied the grass blades because _sixteen year old, dammit Lupin_ , James had tugged his Wimbourne Wasps t-shirt off and threw on the ground near their stuff. Teddy watched the way his trainers crunched along the grass blades because James had somehow grown muscles in his arms and a small patch of hair on his lower stomach, and Teddy was not ready for that.  
  
Because James was sixteen! He had just finished his sixth year at bloody Hogwarts!  
  
Slouched over, Teddy shouldn’t have been surprised when Albus jumped on his back a few moments later, snapping him out of his own mind. He laughed loudly in surprise as Albus gripped on tight while Teddy ran around the mock Quidditch pitch the Potters had set up in their backyard. To Albus’ requests, he changed his hair to the random colors that the boy was shouting out.  
  
“Oi!” James called over a few moments later. Teddy was on his favorite blue. “Are you going to help me make captain this year or not?”  
  
Ignoring the way a lopsided grin filled James’ face, Teddy dropped Albus to the ground and replied, “Dunno if I should help Gryffindor get ahead… Maybe I should meet up with the Hufflepuff captain instead?”  
  
James smirked more. “Still mad Gryffindor kicked your badger arse all those years ago?”  
  
“All those years— James, it was five years ago,” Teddy pointed out. If a hint of defensiveness snuck its way through in his tone, neither of the Potter boys noticed.  
  
They all picked out brooms and equipment that James had dragged out of the old shed before Teddy’s arrival. James was the Keeper on the Gryffindor team, so he grabbed a helmet and flew up to get himself situated while Teddy helped Albus pick out padding.  
  
“How was the rest of your first year?” Teddy asked as he gave the boy a pair of gloves.  
  
Albus grinned. “I got all O’s! Rose and Scorpius were so mad.”  
  
“Who’s that?” Teddy asked. The name sounded vaguely familiar, as if Teddy had heard it in passing.  
  
“My best friend in Slytherin,” Albus explained, tugging on the helmet that Teddy insisted he wear. He pretended to listen to the boy talk all about his first year, and how he was definitely going to try out for the Slytherin team when school started back up.  
  
Teddy looked up into the air, grinning when James was smiling back. In the air could just barely make out the crooked way the boy always grinned at him, but he knew it was present.  
  
This wasn’t anything new, the way Teddy’s stomach turned when he thought about James. Life had been lonely living with just his grandmother, and while she tried her best to give him a happy life, he’d always enjoyed his visits with the Potter family. Lily and Albus had been too young, but he and James had always had fun running around outside with their toy brooms while his grandmother visited with Harry. He always treated James like an equal despite the age, and over the years they had become great friends.  
  
Just, somewhere along the way as they grew up, Teddy had discovered that his feelings were much more than that of a friendship.  
  
Snapping out of his thoughts, Teddy watched as Albus’ small hands held the broom as he straddled it. Albus was just as much of a natural as his older brother and father, and flew into the air with great ease. Teddy rolled his eyes when he saw James quite forcibly chuck the Quaffle at his little brother, and hid a smirk when Albus caught it without problem.  
  
“What’re you laughing at, Lupin?” James called down to the ground.   
“Not quite a baby brother anymore, is he?” Teddy snarked back as he finally flew up into the air to meet the Potter boys.  
  
Luckily enough, Albus was still a bit young to understand the hand gesture that James gave Teddy.  
  
They practiced for a little while, Albus and Teddy taking turns trying to score against James. They practiced with two Quaffles to give James a more fast-paced experience that would closer imitate the real game.  
  
Teddy was surprised that Albus managed to get a few shots past James here and there, and himself even more. He might have a chance on the Slytherin team, after all. It wasn’t long before Teddy was getting _a lot_ of shots in on James, before he noticed something was up.  
  
“What’s wrong with you?” Teddy flew over and asked James when he didn’t even try with Albus’ next shot. The younger Potter had flown off in celebration, cheering his own last name.  
  
The corner of James’ mouth quivered slightly. “I think it’s these gloves; I have some better ones in the shed. Come help me find them.”  
  
Teddy stared at him for a few subtle seconds. He watched the way the muscles in his shoulders shifted as he gripped his broom handle, the way the sun was already turning his pale skin slightly pink.  
  
“Fine. Hurry up though, we can’t just ditch your brother,” Teddy conceded very quickly, averting his eyes towards the Potter’s shed.  
  
“He’s fine. He’s off in his own little Slytherin world.” James drifted off towards the storage shed that Harry kept their lawn mower and their ridiculous amount of Quidditch equipment that their family had procured throughout the years.  
  
Something in the back of his brain said he shouldn’t follow, but with a quick glance over to see that Albus was throwing the Quaffle through the goal hoop and then chasing after it, he figured he was fine to run off for a few seconds and help James.  
  
Teddy landed on the ground with a small stumble, which luckily no one saw as James had already entered the tiny shed.  
  
He looked around at the Quidditch equipment when he stepped inside, shaking his head fondly. There were probably fifteen old, beat up brooms, bins full of old Quaffles, Bludgers, and a box on a shelf of Snitches that didn’t fly anymore. The wall was lined with cheaply made Beater’s bats, as no one in the Potter family every played the positon. Until now, as it apparently seemed that Lily was in love Quidditch and hitting things. Teddy grinned; it’d only bring more junk into this shed if Lily developed a want to be a Beater.  
  
He finally scanned the room and found James. The boy was digging through an old container of padding. Covered in dust, it looked like it hadn’t been looked through in a while since both of the boys had started school.  
  
With a small cough to announce his presence, Teddy waited for the boy in front of him to find what he was looking for. When James stood up a few moments later empty handed, Teddy furrowed his eyebrows.  
  
“Guess I left them in my trunk in the house,” he said with a small shrug, tone far from upset. Teddy could feel his stomach turning when James took a few steps closer. “We should probably go back out.”  
  
“Yeah,” Teddy mumbled, not agreeing at all. James used his foot to shove aside a random Quaffle sitting on the ground between them. “Albus will be waiting.”  
  
“Might even come looking for us,” he replied with zero concern. James was right in front of him now; Teddy could see the small beads of sweat around his hair from the warm air in the tiny, tiny shed. Without thinking, Teddy brought his hand up right up next to James’ cheek, before quickly pulling it back.  
  
“James—” he started with a small bit of hesitation.  
  
James didn’t pull back, as if he was expecting this to happen. “You act like I’m that much younger than you. It’s only five years. In ten years that wouldn’t even matter.”  
  
Teddy didn’t fret at the thought of ten years down the road and he didn’t know if that scared him or not. “Six,” was the only thing he could manage to say.  
  
The corner of James’ mouth lifted just slightly enough that Teddy would have missed it if he hadn’t been staring right at it. “Five and a half.”  
  
His breath caught in the back of his throat as James closed the space between them and pressed their lips together. Finally, _finally_ , Teddy’s brain shouted at him as he allowed himself to press a hand to James’ waist, his top two fingers coming into contact with bare skin. His chest thudded as James’ hands gripped his shoulders. The younger boy was only a few inches shorter, and would likely be taller than him by the time he was through his last growth spurt. He ignored the yelling from outside as he felt James drag his fingers through the little blue hairs on the back of his neck, and sighed when James pushed himself closer, backing Teddy into a table.  
  
While not chaste in any way, Teddy pulled back when he felt James’ lips start to part. James rolled his eyes in silent protest, and Teddy gave him a small smile. “Did you hear something?”  
  
James chuckled. “I don’t care,” was all he said, before pulling Teddy’s mouth back to his.  
  
*  
  
“So, let me get this straight,” Harry started, momentarily overlooking the snort from James at his word choice. The small noise from the boy seemed to turn Harry on him, so James cringed. “You ditched your brother to seduce Teddy in the Quidditch shed, and when Teddy heard Albus cry out from _falling off of his broom_ , you did nothing?”  
  
Teddy was already frowning and feeling small, and Harry’s words finally made James join him in an apologetic grimace towards the table.  
  
When both of the boys felt and looked sufficiently sorry enough, Harry spoke again. “I guess it wasn’t all bad. It gave me a reason to ground you until you’re conveniently eighteen.” James instantly opened his mouth to protest, but Harry held up a finger. “Unless what’s about to come out of your mouth is a sincere apology to your brother in the other room, I don’t want to hear it. Teddy’s still welcome to visit and write, but the bedroom doors are open for another two years.  
  
Teddy watched as James looked to his father, probably wanting to protest again. However, when the boy turned back to Teddy, the small smile that lifted up the side of his mouth was enough to make the wait not seem as bad.  
  
“A year and a half, Dad.”

**Author's Note:**

> If this looks incredibly familiar, it's because a few years ago I re-wrote this as a Stiles/Derek story, titled the same (and posted here). This is the original, that is also (and originally) posted on harrypotterfanfiction.com under the penname banshee. #fullcircle


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